Turnout

I can't remember a primary in which I didn't vote. I can't even recall a primary in which I didn't volunteer to help a candidate. Yesterday was no different. Therefore it was heartbreaking to stand on a corner to hand out material and have no one to give it to. Not only did it make me sad, it made me angry ( "Excuse us while we don't bother to vote," June 25). Dan Rodricks points out the struggles voters elsewhere endure to cast their ballots. However, his lecture won't change the American culture of detachment and selfishness.

As one of the hundreds of thousands who participated in the People's Climate March in New York City on Sunday, I am outraged that The Sun buried its coverage of this event on Page 6, beneath a blurry photo of participants ("Worldwide marches call for climate effort," Sept. 22). It began by stating that "thousands of people" participated and did not cite the lowest estimate of the actual turnout, 310,000, until the ninth paragraph, the same paragraph in which it also mentioned that U.N. Secretary Ban Ki Moon, former Vice President Al Gore and actor Leonardo DiCaprio participated.

After assuming the reins of the annual softball game that had been run by left guard Ben Grubbs (who is now playing for the New Orleans Saints), Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb was a little curious about Sunday's turnout at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. A significant number of fans attended the game, and a few observers who watched last year's contest said the turnout was much larger than last year's. A couple of special guests were Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles and Seattle Seahawks free safety Earl Thomas . That was music to Webb's ears.

Candidates for governor in Maryland's June primary spent a record of almost $25 million - paying roughly $35 for every voter who showed up at the polls. Campaign finance reports filed with the State Board of Elections this week show that the primary's cost exceeded the total spent during the primary and general election four years ago by more than $2 million. As Democrat Anthony G. Brown continues to raise money apace and Republican Larry Hogan has $2.4 million in public financing, they appear on track to shatter the record $33 million spent on the gubernatorial contest in 2006.

There are nearly 1,200 homes in the Riverview and Ryerson Circle communities. We are permitted one Baltimore County sponsored clean-up annually. The community association receives hundreds of calls with questions during the year, asking when the next one is scheduled and offering to help. Yet when July 21 arrived, plenty of excuses were given. This area is three quarters of a mile from Riverview Elementary School. Fifteen hundred fliers were hand delivered to every home in both communities, in addition to all the merchants, for distribution to their customers.

Roger Penske looked out his window in the Hyatt Hotel at the Inner Harbor and didn't believe was he was seeing. It was Saturday and the grandstands along the Baltimore Grand Prix course were packed solid with fans. "I was amazed at the turnout," said the owner of Team Penske. "To see huge crowds like that on a Friday and a Saturday shows this event has great potential. " Penske, sitting in the team trailer and waiting for the racing to begin Sunday morning, was ebullient for a team owner who just watched his premier driver's car sheared by a flying competitor during morning practice.

Local elections officials across the state reported lower-than-usual turnout as of noon, says Ross Goldstein, deputy administrator of the state Board of Elections. Goldstein said counties were reporting turnout ranging from 4 to 10 percent at that time. This matches what we've seen in the field and what candidates and their supporters have been saying all day: voters are MIA. The 77,000 early votes account for 2.5 percent of the eligible electorate. Linda Lamone, state elections administrator, told The Sun yesterday that the nice weather and intense primary battles in some districts might actually drive up voter turnout slightly from previous gubernatorial primary years.

The primary election officially began Thursday with early voting, but Anne Arundel County elections officials are expecting low turnout for both early voting and traditional election day voting. Anne Arundel's turnout "might be the lowest ever" at 18 percent to 22 percent, said Joseph A. Torre III, the county's elections director. Typical turnout is in the 28 percent to 33 percent range. Torre based his prediction on the low volume of requests for absentee ballots and the relatively few people who registered as new voters or changed their affiliation in the runup to the primaries.

PORTO NOVO, Benin -- Anxious voters lined up before dawn yesterday morning in front of polling stations here and across Benin to cast ballots in this tiny nation's first free presidential elections in nearly three decades.The head of the republic's election commission said last night that no official results would be reported until tomorrow.According to unofficial reports, the turnout among the 2 million eligible voters was high, as much as 80 percent in some places. Altogether, there are about 4 million people in this country, which about the size of Kentucky.

Ridership on the new stretch of light rail from Baltimore to Ferndale and Glen Burnie was sparse on Sunday, opening day for the two new stops.Mass Transit Administration officials said they didn't count ridership on Sunday, but Dianna Rosborough, media public relations director, said she observed the light turnout."

I can't remember a primary in which I didn't vote. I can't even recall a primary in which I didn't volunteer to help a candidate. Yesterday was no different. Therefore it was heartbreaking to stand on a corner to hand out material and have no one to give it to. Not only did it make me sad, it made me angry ( "Excuse us while we don't bother to vote," June 25). Dan Rodricks points out the struggles voters elsewhere endure to cast their ballots. However, his lecture won't change the American culture of detachment and selfishness.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown may have claimed victory in a landslide win over his competitors for the Democratic nomination for governor, but turnout Tuesday was one of the lowest in decades. Just 20.5 percent of voters cast ballots in the primary. Although provisional and absentee ballots must still be tallied, the turnout “could be a historical low,” said John T. Willis, executive in residence at University of Baltimore's School of Public and International Affairs and an author of books about Maryland elections and politics.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday she's confident Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown will lead Maryland “in the right direction,” if he sails to victory in November's race for governor. Rawlings-Blake said she is pleased with the results of the primary election that handed Brown and his running mate, Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, the Democratic nomination. The pair will face Larry Hogan, a former state Cabinet secretary, and his running mate, Boyd Rutherford, in the general election.

In Ukraine last month, some people braved the threat of violence to get to the polls to vote for a new president. According to news reports, heavily armed men in ski masks tried to scare off voters by smashing ballot boxes and blocking entry to polling stations in the eastern part of the country; election officials were threatened, some kidnapped. In Maryland, we just had a primary election to nominate candidates for governor - you know, like the president of Maryland - and the voter turnout was embarrassingly low . The vast majority of registered Democrats and Republicans did not participate.

Monica Bias of Severna Park called the primary voter turnout at the Earleigh Heights Volunteer Company "pathetic" when she voted just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday. A 58-year-old state employee, Bias never missed a chance to vote. "I always vote. I never miss it. You can't make a difference if you don't vote," she said. One advantage of light turnout was that Bias was able to cast her ballot quickly. "I've been here when the line went out the door and wrapped around and around," she said.

As votes were being counted Tuesday night, politicians and poll workers estimated that the turnout for the primary was among the lowest in recent history - leading some to call for the voting to be moved back to the fall in future years. Despite vigorous campaigning from a full slate of candidates for governor, attorney general and many high-profile local races, such as Baltimore state's attorney, some said the primary didn't take precedence over summer vacations. "The General Assembly should re-examine this," Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, a Democrat, said at Hillcrest Elementary School in Catonsville.

By Laura Smitherman and Laura Smitherman,laura.smitherman@baltsun.com | October 29, 2008

Despite a crush of last-minute registrations in Maryland, Gov. Martin O'Malley and elections officials sought to assure voters yesterday that the state can handle an increased turnout without unduly long lines at polls. About 354,000 people have newly registered to vote in the state this year - a number that is about half the size of Baltimore City's population - and officials are projecting a record 85 percent turnout, O'Malley said during a news conference at Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore.

How many votes does it take to win a primary for governor in Maryland? Considering this is a state of nearly 6 million people, not many. If turnout Tuesday is on par with the last gubernatorial primary four years ago, 180,000 votes could theoretically carry the day for the Democratic nomination. Just 75,000 would be enough to squeak by in the Republican field. That's less than 10 percent of registered voters in each party. "It's a really striking realization," said Laslo Boyd, a political columnist and consultant who has worked on political campaigns in Maryland.

Maryland's Democratic and Republican contenders for governor are sparing no effort to pull every last supporter to the polls Tuesday in a primary for which many voters aren't ready. Likely voters can expect a barrage of phone calls and a flood of election-eve mail on behalf of the three Democrats and four Republicans seeking Maryland's top office. Television ads will try to sway the undecided up to the bitter end — at least for campaigns that can afford that luxury — but the main focus will be on the ground game.